Official City Organ and Newspaper Advertising

The City of Waco is soliciting bids for the role of Official City Organ and Newspaper Advertising under Request for Bids RFB2026-033, with sealed responses due by 2:00 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at the City’s Operations Center located at 1415 N. 4th Street, Waco, TX. The solicitation seeks a vendor capable of providing newspaper advertising services that meet the city’s legal notice publication requirements, including bid notices, weed and grass notices, ordinance notices, and planning commission notices, as outlined in Exhibits A through D. Bids will be publicly opened at 2:01 p.m. via Zoom and teleconference. The award will be made on a best value basis, prioritizing purchase price first, followed by the bidder’s reputation, service quality, alignment with municipal needs, past relationship with the city, impact on compliance with hiring laws for underutilized businesses and disability-focused nonprofits, total long-term cost, and any other criteria specified in the RFB. No numerical weights or scoring system are assigned; the evaluation is discretionary and qualitative. The contract requires performance exclusively within Waco, Texas, with all services delivered to the city’s designated locations, and payments are due within 30 days after invoice receipt, conditioned on submission of a completed EFT Authorization Form. Bidders must submit pricing for legal notices per column inch and per copy for specific notice types, with optional discounts for repeat advertisements, but no estimated contract value or quantity thresholds are provided. The vendor must maintain media liability, commercial general liability, and business auto liability insurance with policy limits of $1 million per claim or occurrence and $2 million aggregate, with three years of post-contract coverage. Subcontracting is prohibited without prior written approval, and assignment or delegation of obligations requires City consent. The vendor must comply with Equal Employment Opportunity requirements, refrain from advertising the contractual relationship without authorization, and is subject to tax debt offsets per the City Charter. The City retains full termination rights for cause or convenience with ten days’ notice, but will not cover attorney fees, accept liability caps, or agree to mandatory arbitration. All submissions must be made through the Bonfire portal or by physical delivery of one original and two copies with an electronic copy on CD or flash drive; email and fax are not accepted. Respondents must certify their status regarding debarment, suspension, past legal issues, litigation history with the City, and